Mendelssohn: Song without Words, Op. 30 No. 1 in E flat major (Contemplation)

Ronald Brautigam here performs the first four books of Felix Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words (Lieder ohne Worte).

If claims could be made for a composer to have invented a genre single-handedly, Mendelssohn would be a strong candidate with his ‘Songs Without Words’ - short lyrical pieces for the piano using a song-like structure. They were immediately popular across Europe, and were imitated by several composers, including Robert Schumann.

One of today’s leading fortepiano players, Ronald Brautigam has released complete sets of piano music by Mozart and Haydn, and is currently recording a highly regarded series of the solo piano works by Beethoven.

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy is regarded as the inventor of the ‘Songs without Words’ genre. He wrote eight volumes, each containing six Songs without Words. Michael Korstick performs these genial atmospheric pieces, which are all too often only heard only as encores, with a dazzling interpretive guise.

Following the critical success of Primakov in Concert, Vol. 1, Bridge is pleased to release a second compilation of the superb Russia/American pianist's live recordings. Volume 2 adds four new composers to Primakov's discography, ranging broadly from J.S. Bach to Philip Glass.

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy was the last great 19th century composer whose works were not completely listed. In the Mendelssohn anniversary year of 2009 this loophole has been closed thanks to the publishing of the Leipzig Edition of the works of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy by the Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig. It was only in 2007/2008, as a result of research work that the musical public first gained awareness of among other pieces, 61 of a total of 115 songs composed for voice and piano.

The "forgotten" songs included in this CD date from throughout the composer’s entire creative period, and demonstrate superbly the many facets, colours and richness of ideas of his musical creations.

The songs have been combined with a completely different artistic genre, one which was Mendelssohn’s own: the songs without words - lyrical piano pieces with vocal style melodies.

"This project was most appealing to Gitti and myself. We were aware of the existence, albeit fragmental, of some unpublished songs, but we were absolutely astonished when as a result of the complete Mendelssohn Edition a entirely new volume of Lieder came to light. We played and sang through the works with great enthusiasm and the thrill that comes from exploring, selected some of them, and took great joy in recording the ones we had chosen." Klaus Mertens

This album is a treasure trove for music lovers and performers alike.

The recording was made using the songs as published by Bärenreiter: Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Lieder für hohe und mittlere Stimme und Klavier (Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, songs for high and medium voice and piano). Edited by Eugene Asti, Bärenreiter Edition, Kassel 2008 (BA 9085).

In the 18th Century composers often simplified the orchestral part of their own concertos so as to be able to play them in private circles, replacing the orchestra with a string quartet. Today, Cord Garben has taken this very liberty to bring out a version of Mendelssohn’s Concertos opus 25 and 40 in which a string quartet (with added double bass) replaces the orchestra. The clarity and lightness of the music are as enchanting as in the original version, possibly even more so.

Includes gems composed by Mendelssohn’s sister Fanny played by Tobias Koch on a 200 year old concert grand.

The series of Songs without Words that Mendelssohn wrote for piano and published from 1830 onwards serve as a very personal musical diary, purely and simply expressing its own musical meaning without verbal connotation. In arranging some of them for violin and piano the Leipzig violinist Friedrich Hermann was able to create a useful addition to the repertoire of his instrument without making any significant changes to the texture and form of the original compositions.